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38 | A New Light
It is known that a person cannot actually keep all 613
mitzvot, except by means of thought: by means of sitting
and thinking eagerly, “When will this mitzvah come to
me so that I will be able to perform it?” or “If only I
had a connection to this mitzvah and I could keep it.”
Then it is considered as though he kept them all. In
accordance with this, in a single day a person can keep
all 613 mitzvot by thinking about each mitzvah on its
own. Thus, the verse states, “You will guard the mitzvah
and the laws and the judgments that I command you
today to do them” (Deuteronomy 7:11). The word “guard”
here is used in the sense of eagerly awaiting—as in the
verse, “His father guarded the matter”…—to keep the
totality of all 613 commandments. When you do so,
you will gain benefit even today. That is to say, it will be
as though you actually performed them in just one day.
Rabbi Tzadok concludes by briefly explaining the verse, “To
You, Hashem, is the kindness, because You recompense a person
in accordance with His deed” (Psalms 62:13), raising a point that
is raised as well by the Shem Mishmuel: Why does this verse
call recompense “kindness”? After all, it is only equitable that
the Creator recompense a person for what he has accomplished.
What kindness is involved? Rabbi Tzadok and the Shem Mishmuel
answer in accordance with what we have learned here: that the
essence of action is in the hands of the Master of the world, Who
alone performed, performs and will perform all deeds. Nevertheless,
Hashem recompenses a person in accordance with his deeds, as
though the person himself accomplished them, even though all of
those deeds really come from God. Thus, the payment of reward
for the deed is great kindness on Hashem’s part. We see here the
concept that action is not in our hands.
The mashgiach, Rabbi Yerucham Halevi Leibovitz, also expresses
this view stated by Rabbi Tzadok (Divrei Torah: Vayikra: Ma’amar Sod
Haratzon, p. 222):
Recently, I related the secret that the enigma of free
Chapter Two: | 59
he is considered meritorious, and heaven has no judgments against
him. Thus, he will succeed and receive help from Hashem. On the
other hand, if a person does not have intent, heaven judges him
negatively and demands of him, “Why didn’t you want?” Even
while he is in this world, he feels this, and thus he experiences all
sorts of distress and difficulties in his life. All of this is intensified
when a person is judged in the world-to-come. If he abandoned his
intent and did not succeed, he is responsible for having abandoned
his intent, and for that he will be judged—whereas if a person
maintained his intent, even if he faced such a great obstacle that
in the end he did not succeed, he will be exonerated, because he
fulfilled his responsibility.
The Meaning of the Story
How does this parable apply to the life of every individual?
Hashem wants us all to return to Him completely. He wants us to
be cleansed of every craving and every evil trait, and freed of every
addiction. Even if achieving this appears difficult or unrealistic, we
must know that heaven wants us to want. We are able to want—
everyone of us. When a person wants and does not abandon his
will in the slightest, he is already fulfilling his obligation. The rest
is in Hashem’s hands—whether or not to give him what he wants,
and when to give it to him. In heaven’s view, this person is already
completely penitent and righteous, because he is holding onto his
strong will with all his might. If he does not abandon his will, he will
certainly arrive, because a person is led in the way that he wants to
go. And even if he leaves this world before having completed his
rectification, heaven considers him cleansed, holy and pure.
Thus, a person’s essential good quality is a mirror of his
will. That is how heaven views him. Heaven judges him in
accordance with his will. And that influences him even while
he is still in this world, living his daily life. A person who
constantly strengthens his good intentions has no heavenly
judgments against him, because heaven judges him in
accordance with his intentions. In addition, there is no need
for heaven to send him suffering in order to arouse him.
Therefore, his life is sweet. Thus, a person’s good intentions